What's Left After the Fire
by EchoingAirport
Summary: Mai and Azula are dead. The Fire Nation's throne is empty, and the resistance forces seize their chance. Zuko must take the throne, and Katara must accompany him to help restore the peace. Of course, they'll have to fix their relationship first. (A Zutara fic that departs from the original story line after the Boiling Rock, rated M for dark and sexual scenes.)
1. Chapter 1

She didn't know what to do with him. The prince (lord now she supposed) had locked himself inside his quarters. He had refused to speak to anyone and took meals once a day. She could hear him drilling and training at all hours. At night and in the wee hours of the morning he would leave to use the latrine, this was how the crew knew that he was still alive.

The lord only cried when he thought nobody would hear him. The sobs came through his door, even though he was obviously burying his face into a cloak or blanket to stop the sound.

So Katara didn't know what to do. Something told her that forcing her way into his room and making him talk would not work. That was a method best reserved for Sokka, who always thought that he couldn't express his sorrows until he was forced to. All that masculinity bullshit. How had she never strangled him?

But the task at hand was going to take some deft manuevering. She'd grown up with Sokka, learned him inside and out. Zuko was...a little more complicated . And he had just lost two of the most important people in his life.

They'd gotten the letter almost a week and a half ago. After Sokka and Zuko had escaped from the Boiling Lake, Mai and Tai Lee had been executed. That had been almost a month ago now. A few days later Azula had killed herself, unable to handle the emotional toll. The Fire Empire was collapsing as Ozai's plan was put to waste. He had appointed his daughter as the new ruler of the Fire Nation while he was to continue to expansion of the empire, but without a strong ruler at home an earth nation resistance had broken through the border and taken the capitol.

The plan was to reunite with Aang, Toph, Sokka, Suki, and the rest when Ozai had been captured. Until then, Katara and Zuko had to stabilize the Fire Nation. Ultra-nationalist fire nation citizens were burning down the slums in Capital City, while the majority of the peasantry were joining forces with the earth kingdom resistance, the Si Gou. It was supposed to be absolute chaos. The riots were supposed to be impossible to quell.

But Katara was a hero, a waterbending master, and Zuko was a prince, an unstoppable force when he desired something. There would be no stopping _them. _

The waterbender moved across the deck of the ship, and pushed past the water tribe men gambling in front of the quarters entrance. Halfway down the hall she stopped, her fist raised to his door ready to knock. Everything was quiet. Maybe he was asleep.

She knocked anyways, squeezing her eyes shut. The last time she had tried Zuko had only screamed and knocked over some furniture. Or at least that was what it had sounded like, she hadn't actually been allowed into the room.

"Zuko?" she called out quietly, "We're about a day out." She paused, waiting for an answer. When none came she added, "And we need to talk."

He had to have been standing right on the other side of the door, because the latch clanked almost immediately and the steel door swung open.

He was greasy, that was the first thing she noticed about him. His hair fell in oily clump, and his smell, normally like crisp ash and sea salt, was stale and musty. The shirt he wore was tied only in a loose knot so that his chest could be seen. You could count the ribs, evidence of the fasting that he'd been doing. Plum colored bruises surrounded his knuckles, and dirt was packed under his usually well maintained nails.

"Talk about what?" His voice was rough like tree bark. Obviously, the prince hadn't bee drinking much either.

Still, the stupid question pushed away all of the pity that Katara had felt for him up until that moment. "Talk about what? The _plan_, Zuko. That's what. We have no plan. The northern water tribe escort is leaving to joing my father after we reach the shore. It's just going to be us, and we need to be smart about this."

He snorted, and smoke trailed from his nostrils like silk. "Fine, we'll travel by night. Done." The door began to shut, and Katara's hand instinctively rushed out to stop it.

"No. Not, done. We won't have help until we reach Capital City and we can meet up with the Si Gou, and we don't even know if they'll want to help you." She stepped inside of his room, and glanced around quickly. It was clean despite the broken chair in the corner, though all of his luggage and the table and had been pushed against the wall to make room for the drills he'd been doing.

"Oh yes, please come in." The sarcasm was biting, but Katara did not react.

Instead, she faced him. "This is important. This is our safety and the wellbeing of your country that I'm talking about." That seemed to shut him up. She was right, of course she was. "Many people still see you as a traitor. They think you're a-"

Something flashed across Zuko's face. She could tell that he'd filled in the blank. _He was a murderer. _That's what someone like Zuko would think. He had indirectly caused the deaths of his sister and girlfriend, both of them icons in the Fire Nation. He had indirectly killed two of the only people that had cared about him.

"Everything that happened, Zuko..." What could she say to him? Her mother had died long ago, but so had his, and his list of losses was only piling up. "Well, none of it's your fault," she finished unsure of how to finish. Katara weakly put a hand on his limp arm. She didn't want to touch him, they weren't that close, but they'd have to be soon...and she truly did want to help. "You couldn't have known, and Azula was never really quite, well, um..."

He hung his head, "Stable. She was never quite stable. But something like resentment settled on his features. "That's what my mother used to say. No one else would have dared."

The waterbender waited for him to continue, but he was apparently done speaking. She moved across the room to where a map had been pinned to his wall, and traced the route they were taking (or what she understood of it) until she reached the northern coast of the Fire Nation. She moved her finger slowly and deliberately. The Fire Lord was probably done talking about his sister and Mai, but she was not. It could wait, but not for long.

"Okay, let's get to it," she said. She could hear him walk up behind her, feel his breath on her shoulder. "This is about where we'll land."


	2. Chapter 2

Long before Zuko had left the Fire Nation he had had dreams about snow. About the white flakes that fell from the sky like ash. The dreams had left him feeling weak and happy, drunk before he had even smelled liquor. When he'd told his mother about the dreams she had laughed and hugged him close, but she had also warned him that the snow could be one of the most dangerous places for a firebender. Even still, on their next vacation to Ember Island they had built a "snow" man in the sand, and she had taught him how to weave kelp into a little ball like the water tribes did.

"For wishes," she'd said. "You think about the thing you want the entire time you're weaving, and then you toss the ball into the waves. If it doesn't float back to shore then you're wish will come true."

They had worked with the slippery ribbons for hours, singing Fire lullabies and folk songs. But when it finally came time to make their wishes Zuko had been unable to throw his ball away. The effort he'd poured into the wishing ball had made it impossibly precious to him, and the prince found himself unable to part with it. Instead, he watched his mother toss her own orb into the sea as the sun set.

He'd tugged on her wrist, "What did you wish for?"

Without looking at him she smiled. "This. That things could remain like _this_."

So when he and Katara moved towards the Fire Nation shore that first night, Zuko had insisted that the stay. His fingers were more nimble now, and the wishing ball formed quickly in his palms. Katara recognized what he was doing almost immediately.

"You're going to need more kelp," she said it, and she was gone. Off to gather more from down the coast. He grunted in agreement too late for her to hear. When she returned she two large handfuls.

"That's too much."

She sat down in the sand next to him, and pulled her back close so that she could lean against it. "It's not all for you."

They worked in silence for a while, both wondering if this was the best way to use their precious nighttime, but they carried on. Something about this was important, like they were acting out a script that had been written long ago.

When they were both done Katara asked him, "Who taught you this?"

Zuko stood up and offered his hand to her. "My mother, I don't know who taught her."

There was nothing Katara could say to that really, and she found herself floundering to fill the silence. "My mother taught me too."

Zuko looked at her, his eyes very full of...something. Understanding, perhaps. As if to say: _Of course, she did. That is how things were meant to be, though they couldn't remain. _

The waterbender felt like crying, like something was clawing its way up her throat and clogging her heart, but the prince (would she ever stop calling him that?) took her hand and walked her to the edge of the waves.

He reared back his arm and she followed. They peered into the darkness trying to see how far they had thrown, but the night was too dark and there were no villages nearby. Everything was charcoal and indigo and black out and beyond. Undoubtedly, if it were day they could still see their ship moving out into the distance, but now with hours until the morning they knew that it would be long gone before they could see the horizon.

"What did you wish for?" Zuko finally asked.

It was uncommon for foreigners to ask the qestion when introduced to the practice of wishing balls. Typically they were uninterested, or considered the practice a childish formality, necessary to please their water tribe host. But back home they had always asked each other. It was a way to see a part of a person that was usually invisible: what they really desired. It was considered a polite and loving gesture to ask what someone had wished for.

"I," Katara searched for words to adhere to the vague concept she wanted, "I wished for luck, I guess. Good fortune." It sounded stupid, cowardly even. Shouldn't she have the confidence to believe that luck was unnecessary? She was the youngest waterbending master in the world, best friend of the avatar, a warrior in her own right. Luck was not something she should desire.

"Good thinking." Zuko brushed his palms together, trying to remove the sand, and then turned to head back over to their things. "We'll need it."

She watched after him for a few seconds before moving to follow. He was pale, a true Fire Lord. Pale smoothe skin that turned silver in the moonlight and the shadows.

"What did you wish for?"

Zuko bent over and pulled his pack over his shoulders. "I wished for change. I wished that none of this had ever happened."

Katara's heart knotted at the sound of that. She knew it was silly, but a small part of her interpreted what he'd just said to mean that he was wishing her away too. Logic clashed with the sensitive spot that covered her feelings about Zuko. She hated him, she didn't trust him, but she wanted him to like and respect her.

He cast a sideways glance at her, his bad eye looking with her blue ones. "That's only half true. The first part. There's no point in wasting a wish, the past will never change. I only wished for things to be different...soon."

Now it was Katara's turn to take his hand, "They will be."

And together they began to walk down the beach. There were still a few more hours until sunrise, but it was brutally hot. Zuko found himself thinking about snow.


	3. Chapter 3

When Katara awoke the prince was gone. Poor lordling couldn't sleep while the sun was up, the fire burned in his veins. As for her, rising with the moon came as naturally as breathing. If it hadn't been for his recent misfortunes she might have found a little humor in the dark bags under his gold eyes and the way he walked hunched over like an old man. She might have teased him and asked how she might contact his royal etiquette teacher.

As it was, though, he was slowing them down. Sure, he rose early and cooked meals before she even woke up so that they didn't waste time cooking...but their walking time had been cut in half. His steps had turned into a shuffle, and he was no longer as alert as he should have been. The exception was when he dawned that demon mask of his. Putting it on was like waking up for him, his body moved with grace once more. Of course he only wore it when he went to gather food from nearby villages. Otherwise, Katara might as well have been walking with a weight tied to her leg. It was making her increasingly anxious.

The moon was up now, and so was he. No doubt, he'd return soon with some stolen goods wearing his disguise. She didn't know how to feel about the whole situation. What was it about the mask that energized him so? Why had he even brought it? And the way he acted...He wasn't just the old Zuko when he put it on...Not really. He wouldn't talk to her, wouldn't let her accompany him.

She rolled onto her side, and waited in the darkness. No campfire yet, not until they needed it. And where was he anyways? Or had she woken up earlier than usual?

A twig snapped out beyond where she could see. Katara sat up quickly ready for whatever it might be.

Zuko came trotting out of the darkness, unusually energetic. By the time he returned he'd usually exhausted himself again. He was undressing as he went, peeling arm wrappings off of him like some sort of dark skin that he was shedding.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear...

"Earth kingdom soldiers in the village," he whisper shouted before he reached her. Once he stood in front of her he proffered a roll from his pouch. "It was all I could manage. Didn't want them to see me." He always did this now, spoke in fragments as if he didn't have the energy for full sentences. With the way things were, he probably actually didn't.

"Well, that's good, right?"

He was quiet but smoke blew from his nostrils in thin gray wisps. Finally, he spoke. "They had a local girl. I don't think she was willing company."

It took a moment for Katara to process what he meant, but as soon as she did her eyes narrowed to slits. "Well, we have to go then."

He held up a hand, "No need. I set their camp ablaze. She took the opportunity to slam a frying pan over the closest guard's head and took off into the woods. None of them pursued."

A snort of laughter errupted from the waterbender. "I need to meet this girl." But something heavy sat in her stomach. Something was not right. "Wait...these were earth kingdom troops?"

The firebender cracked his knuckles and knodded, "Yes. That's what I said."

It didn't seem right. The Earth Kingdom was supposed to be made of good guys, like them. Not plundering barbarians. They were here, in the Fire Nation, because they expected help from the Earth Nation warriors in Capital City. Their forces were supposed to be heroes, liberators, freedom fighters...That's who they were supposed to fight alongside with. Not rapists...It couldn't be true.

A small, "Oh," was all she could managed, but she realized too late it had sounded skeptical.

Apparently it was enough though, because the Fire Lord's head snapped around. "Oh?"

She didn't like his tone, "Yeah, I was just surprised is all."

The prince knelt down and began to pack his uniform into his bag. "So the only people capable of doing horrible things are citizens of the Fire Nation?" Zuko looked up at her. His eyes did not hold any menace, but she couldn't help but feel defensive because she knew that he was accusing her.

He was right, of course. This had been exactly what Katara had automatically assumed. She had created very black and white borders in her mind, and the Fire Nation stood on the side of evil. Hama, the Dai Lee...these were unique exceptions. But an entire camp of rotten Earth Nation troops? That was...well, that was something she hadn't considered to be possible.

But she wouldn't be called predjudiced. Not after a hundred years of pompous, imperial behavior from this brat of a boy's nation. "No!" she said indignantly. "That's not what I meant."

A smug smile spread across his lips, "Of course not. If a firebender showed up right now, I bet you'd attack before even letting him or her talk. Right?"

That was too much. She made a gagging noise as she struggled for words, "I would _not_! I _know _not all of the Fire Nation is bad!" The only reply she got was a snort and a laugh. "What?!" Her voice was rising even though she knew she should be quiet. There could be people about, but she couldn't help herself. _How dare he?_

Things had not been resolved between the two of them, before Aang sent them away. Zuko hadn't yet been forgiven for his betrayal in the catacombs at Ba Sing Se, and all of the anger she'd pushed down in order to play nice after his losses came bubbling up. It wasn't right, she knew, he was still hurting and so he was hurting her back, but he couldn't get away with being a presumptious ass. Not on her watch.

"Listen, _Zuko," _She practically spat his name, "I was not judging your people." She poked his chest at the end for emphasis.

"Really," his voice was soft which scared her. "You haven't been judging my people since we got here? You haven't been judging me the entire time you've known me?!" Katara took a few steps back. This was the most he'd spoken since they had arrived. But he wasn't done speaking yet. "It's not their fault, it's not _my _fault, it's not Azula's! We were all born onto this Agni forsaken island at the worst time possible." Zuko began to pace, steam rushing out of his clenched fists. "People are here killing, stealing from, and raping my people; and you're still assuming that WE are the only bad guys in the world. How does that make sense? And if I protect my people I'll be seen as a traitor._..Again!"_ His eyes flashed to her, as if he wanted an answer to a question he hadn't asked.

Katara took a breath and a step forward, "Zuko, please calm down. Someone might here." It was all she knew to say. Something practical...before this mission...before the catacombs...before anything, her relationship with Zuko had always been practical. Emotions and opening up to one another had only hurt each other in the past. Why would she let it happen again? She'd pushed him to this irrational state. She'd tried to get him to talk to her. What had she been thinking?

Zuko struggled to slow his breathing for a few quiet minutes, and then the firebender turned away. "You're right. We should move."

And that was it, she guessed. She had been too slow to apologize (_stupid, stupid, stupid) _and now it would be too awkward she felt. He clearly didn't want to talk about it. He probably didn't want to talk at all.

Maybe it was all for the best. _Professional, _she thought, _Keep it professional. _

(A/N: Thank you to all that have followed!That's really exciting since the story had only been up for a day. Also, reviews would be REALLY helpful!)


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